South Africa-Economy-Rate

S/Africa’s apex bank lowers repo rate

APA-Johannesburg (South Africa)

The South African Reserve Bank has cut interest rates from 6.25% to 5.25%, bank governor Lesetja Kganyago confirmed on Friday.

The lowering of the rate by 100 basis points was an attempt to help ease the burden on the country’s consumers, the governor said.

According to Kganyago, the bank had projected that the coronavirus would slow down global and domestic economic growth for at least the first half of this year.

South Africa, Africa’s most coronavirus-hit country, has confirmed 202 cases of the disease since its outbreak in the country in early March.

Until this week, most of the victims had been overseas carriers or locals who had returned home from holidays in Italy, Europe’s epicentre of the virus whose fatalities number has now reportedly surpassed that of China – the origin of the latest coronavirus pandemic.

The country now has locally based victims who are passing it on to others in their communities, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize has said.